My Citroen DS3: One month in...

Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2004
Posts
9,150
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
So I thought I would give you all a little review of my new Citroen DS3 one month into ownership.

Now I know a lot of people will say ZOMG it's French it will blow up! but tbh as it's a company lease car it's really not my problem. I went with it because out of the cars i'd test drove it was was the one I liked the most.

So.. first the obligatory pictures:

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Spec:
Citroen DS3 DStyle Airdream 1.6 eHDI (90bhp) (Eco AutoStop Start system/Tax Exempt etc)
Polar White/Black Roof and Mirror Caps
16" Ashera Wheels with 4x Michelin Tyres
Full Mistral Black Leather with Sports style seats
eMyWay Satelite Navigation System with 16:9 Screen (With Bluetooth Telephony/Full iPod Control and USB Conectivity)
Digital Climate Control
Piano Black Interior
Cruise Control with Speed Limiter

First imrpessions:

I will say on the afternoon it arrived I was slightly annoyed/gutted/overjoyed all at the same time. The car had to come down from Doncaster so a bit of a trip to mine in Staffordshire. I was told on the phone to expect delivery about midday as i'd told them that I was on nights. Only to phone them at 1pm asking where it was and to be told it was going to be delivered at 4pm because of my shifts. Wished they'd told me as I missed out on 3 good sleeping hours!! lol

The car arrived on the back of a low loader and after a scour round it had survived the trip down the M1 unscathed. My first thought after it came off was that it was a very, very pretty car. I had only seen the white/black combo in passing whilst out and about but when it arrived I was very pleased that i'd opted for that rather than going for another red car.

The DRLs I think set it apart, I think they look brilliant and extremley stylish. The car came with half a tank of Diesel so I took a gander to the local Tesco and filled it up ;)

Interior:

I test drove the Ds3 at the local dealer, the one I drove was a Dsport so the seats/interior were almost identical. The only real difference was the fact I had the eMyWay system and the demo car had the monochrome screen. Again, I was very glad that I went for the eMyWay as it changes the whole feel of the interior. In all the interior is very well put together. Looks very nice and is a nice place to be. The dials are all in their own individual 'pods' in the dash and are nice and clear and easy to read. The quality of material (Esp for a French car) are pretty damn good also. I especially like the steering wheel (It's sort of a Pretzel shape!)

One of the things I really wanted was the eMyWay system as for me a colour screen makes your interior a nicer place to me (Plus you don't have to fiddle with plugging Sat Navs in and horrible marks on the windscreen!!) the system itself is good (Certainly no iDrive) but adequate for what it is. It replaces the older MyWay model that was phased out last year in favor of this one (Comes with a bigger screen primarilly but also an improved UI and USB as standard)

My biggest couple of gripes with it were the fact that it's not a touch screen system and doesn't allow for postcode inputs. It's controlled from the Radio panel just below the Climate Controls and it's a small and if i'm honest fiddly knob. The Sat Nav itself though isn't bad. Good Colours, directions are good and it's easy to understand. There are a variety of ways to view the screen also. You can have your 'stats' (Average MPG/MPH/Time in Eco Mode/Range)/A full screen sat nav/A part Screen Sat Nav/Radio Screen.

It's quite spacious (I'd go as far as saying more so than my MINI) and the drivers position is fine for someone of my frame (6"3 and 20st!) The seats aren't quite as comfy as i'd hoped but they're fine. The Leather is of nice quality as well.

Overall the interior is a very nice place to be. I miss my Volvo in the respect it was like driving round on a heated Sofa with a massive surround sound system but I was pretty spolied there!

Another downside is that the Stereo is a touch tinny and could do with some extra bass, but i'm looking at getting the HiFi upgrade for Christmas. It deals with my Rammstein reasonablly well though.

Day to Day/Driving:

Now, the majority of my driving is an 18mi trip to and from work which is a mix of rural roads and urban 30/40s with an ocasionaly 50. The diesel is a little loud for my taste but a lot of people say it's quite quiet. But as this is my first Diesel I don't really have much of a base for comparison. It has plenty of get up and go. The 1.6 eHDI lump has plenty of umph although you do have to work it a tad.

I can honestly say that the 110 Diesel version I test drove I really can't feel any difference between the two, I was actually pleasently surprised with how well it did pull. I'm getting very good fuel returns. I've only had to fill up 2 and a bit times and thats over 1268mi so far (Inclusive of 2 160mi round trips) i'm getting returns of close to 50mpg with an average tank costing about £65 from near empty. Considering I used to get just shy of 400mi for £90 in the Volvo, this has saved me an absolute boat load in running costs. The Auto Stop Start 'Eco' mode also assists in this.

When i'm hooning it a little, the car responds very well. It's not far off the MINI when it comes down to the nitty gritty. It holds the road fantastically and is extremley fun in the corners. I would however like to see how the 150THP and the DS3R compares (The Latter especially) as it really does respond well, the steering is responsive and feels good.

I've had quite a few comments on it. Majority of them positive. Now I know French cars aren't exactly all the rage on here but I can quite honestly say that this one really is set apart from the rest. Albeit it was a touch on the expensive side overall (£18,000) still for the same options a Mini you'd be looking at the mid £20k mark. I'd never thought i'd hear myself say it either but I prefer it to my MINIs.

Thanks for reading. Please any questions/comments fire away :)
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Sep 2007
Posts
11,095
Location
West Yorkshire / Market Bosworth
Looks like a very nice car, though I've never personally been in one. This seems to be the main rival against the A1 and similar premium small cars. ;)

Something that I'm sure you'll agree with me, is how refined these relatively small cars are on a long journey. Maybe it's me out of touch but for example the corsa I learnt in was at least ten times worse then the A1, in every way. :p I find the A1 has the same feel of any other Audi model. :D

I sometimes think maybe I should have gone with the 1.6 diesel, nearly 12k miles now. :)
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
22 Dec 2004
Posts
9,150
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
Looks like a very nice car, though I've never personally been in one. This seems to be the main rival against the A1 and similar premium small cars. ;)

Something that I'm sure you'll agree with me, is how refined these relatively small cars are on a long journey. Maybe it's me out of touch but for example the corsa I learnt in was at least ten times worse then the A1, in every way. :p I find the A1 has the same feel of any other Audi model. :D

I sometimes think maybe I should have gone with the 1.6 diesel, nearly 12k miles now. :)

On the trip to Manchester I did in the first week the shown MPG was about 54mpg. That was doing 85 on cruise up the M6 :)
 
Soldato
Joined
22 May 2003
Posts
10,855
Location
Wigan
I hated the one I rented in summer, wouldn't buy one myself.

Those seats look good and ill agree it has fantastic handling, something the French do well.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
159,534
Depreciation isn't a problem. Lease car.

Well no, because the cost of the lease is calculated based primariy on the expected depreciation of the car. It's always amusing when people say they lease so depreciation isnt a problem, it is, you just pay it monthly.

That said the DS3 seems residually quite good.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
159,534
It's a company car. ;)

It's a car sourced through a company lease scheme rather than an actual company car if that makes sense - some employers allow staff who are do not require a car for work to lease one anyway and pay the lease charges. This is usually offered as a salary sacrifice scheme which reduces some of the cost as it's taken pre-tax (Though obviously some of that is replaced by company car tax).
 
Soldato
Joined
16 Jul 2004
Posts
14,075
[TW]Fox;23224948 said:
It's a car sourced through a company lease scheme rather than an actual company car if that makes sense - some employers allow staff who are do not require a car for work to lease one anyway and pay the lease charges. This is usually offered as a salary sacrifice scheme which reduces some of the cost as it's taken pre-tax (Though obviously some of that is replaced by company car tax).
No Fox, you don't understand, it's completely free! Tax isn't really a cost etc.

'Close' to 50 MPG (say 49 MPG) doesn't seem that great unless you are driving through traffic..
 
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